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Finding Divine in the EverydaySun, 18 Feb 2018 20:54:45 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.4http://www.afoolsjourney.comhttp://www.afoolsjourney.com/files/2011/04/afj-feedburner2.jpgA Fool's Journey - Tarot Reading and MoreSubscribe with My Yahoo!Subscribe with NewsGatorSubscribe with My AOLSubscribe with BloglinesSubscribe with NetvibesSubscribe with GoogleSubscribe with PageflakesSubscribe with PlusmoSubscribe with The Free DictionarySubscribe with Bitty BrowserSubscribe with Live.comSubscribe with Excite MIXSubscribe with WebwagSubscribe with Podcast ReadySubscribe with WikioSubscribe with Daily RotationThe Devil (and What Choice Has to Do With It)http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AFoolsJourney/~3/m5_jlKPIwmI/
https://www.afoolsjourney.com/tarot/everyday-tarot/the-devil-and-what-choice-has-to-do-with-it/#respondSun, 18 Feb 2018 20:54:45 +0000https://www.afoolsjourney.com/?p=34410

Ever struggle with a choice? And we think, this way or that? As if that tiny moment in time makes all the difference. It makes no difference at all! None at all. Any choice we make could work out just fine. Or any choice we make could blow up. Because it’s not the choice itself that […]

Ever struggle with a choice? And we think, this way or that? As if that tiny moment in time makes all the difference. It makes no difference at all! None at all.

Any choice we make could work out just fine. Or any choice we make could blow up. Because it’s not the choice itself that matters. It’s the energy flow. It’s how we’re working with the energy that makes all the difference. If you split your energy with worry, self-doubt, anger or other trains of thought, your choice will be messy. If you opt to just do the best you can with it and keep moving, your choices tend to come out cleaner.

With a little perspective and emotional distance, I can see some of the most difficult moments in my life ended up being the most powerful turning points imaginable. They were like shortcuts to sometimes intense transformations.

They sometimes go down easy or they can go down hard. The difference has never been from external circumstances. It’s in how much you choose to struggle with it. It’s how you go about directing your energy surrounding the choice. Sometimes we go kicking and screaming. Sometimes, we just let go and ride the wave.

I like surfing the wave, myself.

The difference between an irreparable disaster and a powerful turning point lives in your head.Click To Tweet

This combination made me think about the times we feel we’re trapped, but we’re not, really. This happens sometimes when becoming emotionally attached to a particular outcome. This happens when we fight with others to try to tilt the world to fit into our own personal preferences. This happens when we split our energy between what we want and what we don’t.

This week, look at the choices you are making. If you don’t feel like you have a choice, pull back and wait until you can see the choice. You ALWAY have a choice–even if that choice is just about how you view the world.

I’ve been actively seeking a kinder, more loving perspective. I don’t believe I’m terribly lacking in that regard. But there’s always room for improvement. And I really like the way it feels. So I want more of it.

This process hasn’t been quite as obvious as I expected at first.

For example, I used to think helping others was more or less always an act of kindness. Of course, it’s not.

You cannot divorce your own values and needs from your interactions with others. Even if your intention is not about manipulation or enforcing your own worldview, it’s impossible to remove the “you” from the equation. We have no other vantage point than self.

You can empathize and imagine and intend from now until kingdom come. But you can never truly put yourself in another’s shoes because you are you, with your own unique blend of energy, experience and conclusions.

Helping behavior can be motivated from the discomfort or frustration of seeing matters not handled to personal standards. It can be motivated from distress over vicariously experiencing struggle, or fear for the person involved, or worry about being on the hook to help rectify unpleasant outcomes. All of this can come into play even without us noticing. See how it’s difficult to keep the intention pure?

But what’s really sticking with me more than anything is the realization of the implications. Leaping to action whenever someone appears to be in the slightest need says as much as anything, “I don’t trust you are up to this task.” And that’s not the message I want to send anybody!

I’ve come to see it as a much greater service to express my faith in the other person’s capacity. That’s what I want to bolster. They have access to the same connection I do–plugging in and receiving divine inspiration. Their conclusions and solutions may not look like mine. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t right, for them.

My goal here isn’t just to butt out of other people’s business. It’s more about keeping my own heart open and trusting that everything in the universe is where it needs to be. It’s understanding I don’t have all the answers, but I’m not called to provide all the answers.

The only answers I'm responsible for providing are my own. #OnMyRadarClick To Tweet

It’s taking more time for me to apply this on a larger scale. I see many things in the world that don’t suit my idea of righteous or good. That doesn’t mean those things aren’t contributing to a greater whole. It only means that I don’t know how.

I used to feel the need to classify everything into categories of right or wrong, good or bad, wanted or unwanted. Social media amplifies this dynamic. But life isn’t so dichotomous.

What if we tried to view everything, personally appealing or not, as having a meaningful contribution in the greater tapestry of humanity? What if we trusted everything is always all right?

“The present moment is filled with joy and happiness. If you are attentive you will see it.” -Thich Nhat Hanh

Try assuming the best, for and about everyone. Take responsibility for your own decisions and only your own decisions. Of course, you can be supportive and helpful. Sometimes that is your role! And it’s a lovely role to play, when that happens. But make sure that helping is invited and done with the desire to be of service instead of “fixing.” Then, your efforts should hit their mark. You can send out love anywhere. And sometimes? The most loving thing you can do is trust the rest of the world (or just your little corner) to right itself.

If you’d like to take a closer look at your life and get yourself back into the flow, give me a holler for a one-on-one session.

I’m not bothered too much by it, personally. Sure, I feel for people suffering, but I see it much differently than many do.

I’ve felt lots of energy shifts over the last few years. Massive and global energy sifts. The turbulence is a symptom, not an end diagnosis.

The outcomes I’m seeing (and further expecting) are social changes, not social collapses. But “Tower moments” as the status quo breaks down is often a part of major change. It’s happened so many in my own life, I’ve lost count. What felt like utter chaos and tragedy in the midst turned out to be exactly what was required for a fresh start. It’s the perspective a bigger picture can provide.

It’s certainly challenging sometimes to maintain optimism in the middle of a stormy night. That’s exactly the reason I step back. I take media breaks and limit exposure to upsetting stories or discussions. In my personal life, I may seek distraction. Some would call it denial. I call it self-care. I have come to realize I can only contribute meaningfully to any sort of good when I prioritize my own needs: physical, emotional and above all, energetic.

It really does help. And this is exactly what Tarot is speaking about to me this week.

My phone picture doesn’t do this Tarot artwork justice. I’ll be pulling out the good camera next time!

They are more or less opposite energies, and yet perfectly compliment one another. Because they show two sides of the same coin.

When you focus on flaw, you’ll feel brokenness. When you focus on difference, you’ll feel separation. When you focus on shortage, you’ll feel lack. When you focus on connections, you’ll feel supported. When you focus on grace, you’ll feel protected. When you focus on blessings, you’ll feel blessed.

The Five of Earth here is the calling. This desire, the wanting, summons energy through you. It quite directly births a new future, conceived as a result of what you may be considering as “wrong” in the present. Welcome or not, it’s a gift.

The Belleflower represents a “thank you” for the gift. When you acknowledge any gifts, they bloom. Just as the calling comes as a result of a problem, solutions come as result of gratitude. Looking for the good tunes in to the good and turns it up. Nobody can tune in to solutions while fixated on problems, And nobody can tune in to problems while steeped in gratitude.

You don’t have to love everything you see. We aren’t wired that way! We have unique, individual preferences and out of those personal preferences, an endless tapestry of diversity is woven. That is exactly as it should be.

When life feels a little craptastic (personally or globally), understand that feeling dissatisfaction is in itself a form of energy work. Feelings are a function of the energy you’re channeling at that moment. Anger or disillusionment or frustration or sadness are all calling out for change, even when not invoked specifically. You can spend as long or as little there as you like, there. It all adds to the collective evolution.

But if you want, you can also align with the energy of solutions and progress as you see it. I find that a much more pleasant experience. Gratitude activates this energy stream. Your appreciation and acknowledgement of what is going right is a way of watering the seeds of change. It also impacts your subjective experience tremendously.

This is perhaps a long-winded way of saying, you WILL find what you look for. Fortunately, you get to decide.

If you want a little support in perspective-realigning, contact me for a 1-on-1 session. And be well, friends!

If you go deeper and deeper into your own heart, you’ll be living in a world with less fear, isolation and loneliness. -Sharon Salzberg

Solitude is regenerative. The nature of quiet, reflective spaces affords an opportunity to sink deeper into the heart, without distraction from the outside world. It’s more than being able to hear yourself think. You can feel yourself, feel.

Isolation differs in that it seems there’s no real choice but to be separate. The energetic difference between solitude and isolation isn’t in the outward appearance. It’s emotional. That means you have direct influence courtesy how you choose to frame it.

“Feeling Alone” is the Five of Pentacles from the Psychic Heart Tarot. While this rendition is non-traditional, the meaning is not. A woman walks alone in the night, though the cabin with the light still inside is not far off. It’s reachable. The divide as pictured isn’t one of great distance or hardship. Not Earth, but water winds between the woman and the cabin. Fractures between the self and others is an emotional divide.

You can connect if allow yourself to bridge the emotional divide. For a true connection to fire, the heart’s gotta be open.

Hydrangea from Botanical Inspirations is “thankfulness for understanding.” Begin by letting yourself off the hook for whatever you’re not pleased with in your life–just do the best you can in the present moment. And after that? Everything else is much easier to let go.

Be generous with your positive assumptions, handing out that benefit of a doubt like gumdrops–first to yourself, which makes it possible to give to the rest of the world. You’ll find it routinely given back to you in turn. Maybe it sounds a little crazy, but it always works that way.

You could feel isolated this week. If you focus on the points of divide, it won’t get any more comfortable.

Or you could opt for some solitude, however your spirit calls for it. And the rest of the time, assume the best of everyone–not because they always deserve it, but because you deserve to feel as good as you can. Feeling good frees up your emotional energy for pursuits to make life richer. I like to allocate my emotional bandwidth by what gives me the most joy. It’s a very good way to live.

All roads lead home, friends. But you get to decide which one to walk.

This is what I’ve been waking up to, lately. In my head, playing on the ol’ psychic soundtrack.

It’s not a forecast in my mind, so much as a prescription. You know? A prescription.

The Seven of Pentacles in the non-traditional Psychic Tarot of the Heart is “Awaiting Results.” I love the how she’s becoming the tree–seeing herself as part of the results that are coming into being. Aligning herself with her future expectations.

He who controls others may be powerful, but he who has mastered himself is mightier still.Click To Tweet

All roads lead home.

Feel your part, the role your energy plays in the whole of experience. Be solid and steady and consistent, in keeping your self centered and grounded. Align, by grounding, plugging in, listening to the inner voice. Then you can feel your way through anything and you’ll already be growing towards the sun.

Be your own tree. And be happy, every opportunity that presents itself.